KPMG has launched Singapore’s first embedded finance hub on Sept 6. According to the firm, the launch of the hub comes with global financial services, including Singapore, making the shift towards embedded finance.
In its release dated Sept 6, KPMG adds that it has ambitions to accelerate the adoption of embedded finance in the city-state.
The hub, which is set to run for at least two years, will be managed by KPMG. It is expected to provide incubation support to over 120 non-financial enterprises and financial institutions looking to make inroads into financial areas such as payments, blockchain, lending, insurance and wealth.
Within the hub, KPMG’s experts will provide “best practices and venture acceleration support” to companies looking to enter to the domain of embedded finance.
“This could involve working with them to co-create digital assets to drive developments for payments, gamification of finance, decentralised finance and platforms,” reads the statement released by KPMG.
“Start-ups can also trial their embedded finance innovations at this hub, gaining feedback from hub ecosystem participants on how to get these commercialised. Most importantly the hub will lay a new foundation for future data-enabled innovations,” it adds.
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In addition, the hub will see collaborative efforts between non-financial service sector organisations such as healthcare, agriculture, technology, media, and telecom or retail companies and financial services businesses as they test new value propositions infused with the latest digital technologies, continues the release.
Furthermore, the hub will work with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the broader ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of embedded finance in Singapore.
"The next phase of the fintech disruption is moving beyond open banking to embedded finance. This unleashes new opportunities to create ecosystems for financial services to develop their as-a-service business and work with corporates to partner for new embedded finance initiatives; improving customer experience and creating new source of revenue,” says Anton Ruddenklau, partner, global head of innovation, financial services at KPMG International
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“These partnerships drive the uptake of financial services across all industries. KPMG's Embedded Finance Hub will be the epicenter of collaboration and knowledge for Singapore's embedded finance industry,” he adds.
Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at MAS says, "Embedding relevant financial services in the user journey of non-financial services industries can enhance convenience and value to both customers and businesses.”
He adds: “This requires partnerships between financial institutions and businesses, underpinned by trust and technology. We look forward to KPMG's Embedded Finance Hub nurturing and accelerating growth in embedded finance across different industries."
